disastrous new poll numbers for republicans. an ohio democratic party chair, chris redford, on mitt romney's failure to dot the "i" in the buckeye state. >> it's not consistent with our polling, steve. >> the romney campaign has officially joined the poll truthers. tonight, we will debunk the republican alternate reality. >> there is a fundamental error going on in the polling this year by the media organizations. >> and there's more fallout from senator scott brown's race-baiting campaign. we'll have the latest from boston. and the star of tv's "dirty jobs" gets his dirtiest job yet. >> mike rowe, as you know, well, he's a guy who has made a name for himself by doing things other people don't want to do. really ugly, dirty jobs. like standing with a politician. >> i'll explain why mike rowe was standing on the wrong stage

with the wrong candidate today. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. no republican candidate has ever lost ohio and won the presidency. mitt romney is on the verge of becoming yet another victim of this statistic. ohio's 18 electoral votes are vital to romney's chances of winning in november. if mitt romney loses ohio, he's going to have to win all six swing states where the president currently leads. the president's lead in ohio is starting to look dominant. in a fox news poll, president obama leads by seven points. a "washington post" poll puts the president up by eight points in ohio. and the most recent poll by cbs and "the new york times" has president obama leading by ten points. romney was in ohio today, making a new pitch to voters. he's the guy who understands their pain. >> there are so many in our country that are hurting right now. i want to help them. i know what it takes to get an economy going again and creating jobs.

>> voters in ohio don't believe romney on this front at all. when it comes to the economy, 51% of ohio voters say they trust president obama against 45% of voters who trust mitt romney. obama has an advantage on the economy in ohio, because basically, this state is a national success story when it comes to the economy. listen to mitt romney's ohio surrogate, governor john kasich. doesn't sound like there's much reason for ohio voters to make a change. >> you know, i hope you all know that ohio's coming back from 48th in job creation to number four, number one in the midwest. from 89 cents and a rainy day fund to $500 million, and we have grown 123,000 jobs in the state of ohio. our families are going back to work. >> governor kasich, you forgot to tell us where you stood on that automobile thing that was kind of big in your state, one in eight jobs are connected to the automobile industry, which, of course, president obama helped out with the automobile

loan, which all you republicans can't stand. things are great, so vote for mitt romney, right? i don't think so. today romney launched a new ad campaign. according to the "washington post," greg sargent, this new 60-second television ad, well, it's going to replace all english-language romney ads in nine states. it's another attempt to soften romney's image. >> president obama and i both care about poor and middle class families. the difference is, my policies will make things better for them. >> he's sticking up for president obama. that's kind of cool, isn't it? romney hopes this video will have an impact. but there's another video affecting romney's campaign in a very much bigger way. >> and so my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> it is brutal. the hidden fund-raiser video where romney disparaged 47% of americans is not helping with swing voters. it's also hurting romney with

his base. "the new york times" talked to a worker, kenneth myers, an unemployed republican from ohio. romney's comments didn't sit well with myers. "the last thing, where he was going on about the 47% who are dependent on the government is hard to swallow. i think i'm part of the 47% he's talking about. but i don't want to be dependent on the government." that's a pretty good indication of where that comment has taken this campaign. the obama campaign is ham terrifying romney's comments in television ads in ohio. it appears to be taking a toll on romney's number. the gallup tracking poll showed romney making up ground with president obama after the democratic national convention. a week after the fund-raising video was released by mother jones, obama has opened up a six-point lead. president obama was also in ohio today, delivering a knockout punch. and, oh, yes, he reminded ohio voters where mitt romney was when the state needed him at a critical time. >> when my opponent said we

should just let detroit go bankrupt, that would have meant walking away from an industry that supports one in eight ohio jobs. it supports businesses in 82 of 88 ohio counties. so when he said that, i said, no, i'm going to bet on america. i'm betting on american workers. >> ohio's 7.2% unemployment rate is directly linked to the auto rescue, the loan. romney's campaign will live to regret "let detroit go bankrupt," that editorial, that of course he pinned in a detroit newspaper. according to cnn, a longtime gop strategist called obama's advantage on the automobile loan a kick in the blanks for the romney campaign. you can fill in the blanks for yourself. i think you know what he said. romney is also still struggling to undo the damage done by ads highlighting his record at bain capital. the obama campaign and super

pacs flooded the airwaves in ohio with ads, pushing romney's anti-working man image. one particular ad was especially damaging. >> out of the blue one day, we were told to build a 30-foot stage, gathered the guy, and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired. mitt romney made over $100 million by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin. >> that ad was put on the internet by priorities usa super pac, supporting the president. the ad was viewed millions of

times and 60% of the views came from the state of ohio. romney needs to turn things around in ohio, and he needs to do it in a hurry. he's rung out of time, and the buck to trend in the buckeye state, well, it's going to be awfully tough to do. he has never really connected with the middle class. i've said it like a broken record on this program time and time again. and later in this broadcast, we'll show you how romney is trying to connect to the middle class with this guy who does tv ads for some car outfit, and wears the hat and has his own show. and he's standing on the wrong stage. we'll get to that later. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, who's going to win ohio? text "a" for the president and text "b" for mitt romney to 622639 or go to ed.msnbc.com. joining me tonight, e.j. dionne of "the washington post," also an msnbc contributor, and author of "our divided political heart," and chris redford joins us tonight.

e.j., you first. this is quite a mountain to climb for any campaign, whether it's mitt romney or anybody else. how is he going to be able to do it? >> well, i think he knows he's in a hole, because that ad you showed where he said, both of us care about middle class families, that was almost an entirely defensive ad. and that quinnipiac/"new york times" poll showed why. there was a question in there that asked, does obama, does romney care about the middle class, the rich, the poor, or everyone equally? most polls the that give four choices usually get scattered answers. 58% of the people in ohio said that mitt romney's policies favored the rich. by contrast, 59% said that obama's policies favored either everybody equally or the middle class. that's a 17-point gap. and i think the auto rescue is part of it.

those bain ads are part of it. ken blackwell, the former republican secretary of state was on cnn today. and he said it was just like '04. bush roughed up kerry in the summer and kerry never recovered. and he didn't say romney will never recover, but the implication was, romney's in a heap of trouble. >> chris redfern, who is the chairman of the democratic party in ohio also with us tonight. chris. a very untenable position that governor kasich is being placed in, to go out and talk about the economy when it's all positive for workers, and mitt romney's had nothing to do about it. what do you make of that? >> well, it's really important to realize that the downturn in the unemployment rates in ohio began long before john kasich took office. a close look at the record, we will reflect that the auto rescue came long before john kasich had a chance to take his turn as governor. and the commitment that the president made to middle income earners in places like toledo, a location that mitt romney stopped today and didn't even mention jeep -- >> so you're on a roll. the democrats in ohio are on a

roll. how do you keep from being overconfident right now? it's almost like you're running up the score. >> well, we're going to try to get every vote out. there's 11.5 million ohioness and every vote will count, but the old adage, only poll that matters is election night, that's not true. it's a week from night where every vote begins in earnest. and we'll drive 2.5 million democrats and independents to the polls and ensure that those votes are counted earlier and that we're well positioned in the remaining weeks of this campaign to win for the president and for the senator brown. >> e.j., we just got a piece of an videotape in, an interview he did with nbc's ron allen. i want to play it for you and get your reaction afterwards. here it is. >> one thing you seem to have trouble convincing people of, you are the person that cares about middle class people, people are struggling. they don't see in your background and your comments the kind of empathy and understanding that could really solve their problems. >> i think people had the chance who watched our republican

convention to see the lives i've had a chance to touch during my life. to understand that i served as a pastor of a congregation with people of all different backgrounds and economic circumstances. that i care very deeply about the american people and people of different socioeconomic circumstances. and i think throughout this campaign as well, we've talked about my record in massachusetts. don't forget, i got everybody in my state insured. 100% of the kids in our state have health insurance. i don't think there's anything that shows more empathy. >> "shows more empathy"? e.j., romney has gotten himself in the past of talking up his signature piece of health care legislation, but then he's gone out and said one of the first things he's going to do is repeal obama care. the guy continues the stumble over himself. your take on it? >> you listen to that, and the obvious question is, well, if it's such a good idea, obama adopted your plan nationally, and imagine what rush limbaugh is going to say tomorrow about

romney defending his massachusetts plan. maybe he's trying to break out of his box. but he's in a terrible position on this. but i think the one way that romney could carry ohio is if he gets the replacement refs to count the votes. and maybe we'll have a different result. >> exactly. how can he care about people, care about workers when he has them build the stage, when they announce that they're taking over the company, and oh, by the way, all your jobs are going overseas. that to me is a pretty tough sale. the middle class has been really his downfall throughout this whole campaign. chris, a big key in ohio will be early voting. what's the impact it's going to have on the race? >> well, four or five years ago when early vote began, we saw that we have a better turnout operation than our republican friends. we've got operation all across the state, and we have cultivated relationships with the voters over the course of the last couple of years. but it's really important to realize. >> you've got to know where the voting machines are going to be too. >> we know where the voters are and the voting machines are. and we know four words that mitt romney uttered that allowed us

to push people to the polls. let detroit go bankrupt. 850,000 jobs, they're right here in the buckeye state because barack obama stood up for those jobs. we know where the voting booths are, in places like toledo at the ymca where it's easy and great access to get to and we're going to turn out the vote. >> great to have both of you with us tonight. and share your thoughts on twitter @edshow and on facebook. we would really like to get your comments on ohio. it's such a crucial state. coming up, it was not an endorsement, but mike rowe of "dirty jobs" joined mitt romney today in ohio. we'll tell you why he might not want to give the candidate, you know, too much love. in fact, he ought to take a second look, a very close look. congressman jim mcdermott joins me for the discussion. stay with us.

coming up, "dirty jobs" host mike rowe joins mitt romney on the campaign trail to discuss jobs and vocational training. i think he's campaigning with the wrong guy. scott brown's race-baiting comments about elizabeth warren and his supporter's racist chances have the cherokee nation asking the senator for an apology. and could democrats turn arizona blue this november? romney's lead in the poll is shrinking and the senate race is heating up. please share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using #edshow. we're right back.

welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. mitt romney held a manufacturing roundtable in bedford heights, ohio, today and he welcomed to the stage someone who was well known to many americans. mike rowe of "dirty jobs" on the discovery channel, and you may also know him from the ford television commercials. today he shared the stage with romney without actually endorsing him. >> he is nonpartisan, he's not here to endorse me, he's not here to add support to one campaign or another. he's here to talk about his ideas. >> sure. mr. rowe did offer some ideas, and he talked about the kinds of people he cares about. >> the people who keep the lights on, the people who allow the toilets to work, the people who pick up roadkill, the people who paint the bridges, the people who farm, the people who mine. >> it's safe to say there is a candidate for president who cares about those very same people. but it's not the candidate rowe was sharing the stage with today. rowe talked about putting these

people back to work and so has the president of the united states. when president obama tried to sell his jobs bill last year over the refusal of the republican congress, he talked about the kinds of people who would get those kinds of jobs. >> it's a bill that would put people back to work, rebuilding america. repairing our roads, repairing our bridges, repairing our schools. it would lead to jobs for concrete workers like the ones here at hilltop, jobs for construction workers and masons, carpenters, electricians, engineers, ironworkers. put folks back to work. >> mike rowe said part of the problem was training. >> jobs depend on opportunity and training. over and over, that's what i hear, we need more opportunity and we need better training. >> once again, there is a candidate who believes in job training, who understands we

need more vocational training. >> one of the, i believe, mistakes we've made 20, 30 years ago was to start de-emphasizes vocational education. right now we've got shortages of folks in fields that need technical training, but don't necessarily require a four-year college degree. >> mr. rowe went on to make a more subtle point about how we need as a country to appreciate these kinds of wage earners. >> opportunity and training aren't enough. you need desire. i'm talking about desire in the sense of appreciation, with the rest of us. people with dirty jobs, skilled tradesmen, they represent a fairly modest part of the population. >> oh, we know how many mitt romney views many of the wage earners in this country, because we know what he said about the 47% of american who is pay no federal income taxes.

>> 47% of americans pay no income taxes. so my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> i would just say to mr. rowe, i'm glad that you are nonpartisan, but i really believe that the other candidate is the one that you should be sharing the stage with, not mitt romney. joining me tonight, congressman jim mcdermott of washington. congressman, great to have you with us tonight. just for the record, you know, i think mr. rowe must be a pretty good guy, very successful in the television history, a good communicator, but isn't this a perfect example of how folks who are wage earners may not be paying attention to who actually is fighting for them and might even step up on the wrong stage and vote for the wrong person? your thoughts. >> well, this is a desperate attempt by romney to put a whole different spin on his campaign, to suddenly becomes someone who cares about people who do the

dirty work in this society. he has shown no sympathy for them in the past, he has shown no sympathy for their health care needs or their education needs or their employment needs. the health care's a perfect example, but there are lots of others. and they are now realizing with their numbers falling through the floor that they've got to do something to look like they care about working america. it is really a desperate move. >> and the democrats have been very specific in their efforts. it was president obama who was trying time and time again to come forward with a specific jobs bill for infrastructure, that would affect the kind of jobs that they're talking about on the romney stage today. and i guess we have to remind americans of the kind of obstruction that was in the environment in washington. >> we went again and again and again to the floor to try and get infrastructure funding. and the republicans simply held it up. i mean, paul ryan was right in the center of it. and now you're going to make him

vice president of the united states, in charge of opposing infrastructure building. it makes no sense. the country cannot work if we don't invest both in people's education and in the infrastructure, and romney has no record of it, and paul ryan has a record of being against it. so i don't see how anybody's going to vote for them. >> on the stage, the theatrics of it all and the semantics of it as well, mike rowe is up there talking about the very people that mitt romney was dissing behind closed doors at that fund-raiser. he can't say it about them, but maybe this guy can. maybe i'll hand the microphone to this guy, this guy named mike rowe, who wears a workman's hat and a sweatshirt and goes around and has pretty good visibility, maybe he can get up there and say that i really do care about these folks. i find this of somewhat of a desperate move, the choreography of all of this. >> well, it's really based, ed,

on the idea that the american people are stupid and they'll forget what he said last week. and now he comes with this show today and says, no, that wasn't me last week. that -- you forget about that guy. i'm a guy who really cares about working people. the american voters are not -- they did not miss the point about the 47% who don't pay income tax. the unemployed don't pay -- they don't pay income tax. and those people are the ones we're talking about here. >> congressman jim mcdermott, great to have you on "the ed show." thanks so much. keep up the fight, my friend. coming up, new video and new trouble for republican senator scott brown. find out what this tape can tell us about the senator and his offensive tactics on the campaign trail. and republicans don't like reality, so they have created, i guess you could say, a very new reality with a wild conspiracy theory, numerous ones, i might add, about the polls showing that president obama is in the lead.

chris kofinis joins me next. stay with us.

[ chanting ] and we are back. we wish we could report republican senator scott brown is apologizing for the offensive race baiting during a rally on saturday.

several of brown's staffers have been identified in this video yelling war chants and doing the tomahawk chop. they're targeting brown's opponent, elizabeth warren. brown claims she lied about her native american heritage, but senator brown will not apologizeist rally. and this morning the principal chief of the cherokee nation issued a statement, demanding answers. "i call upon senator brown to apologize for the offensive actions of his staff and their uneducated, unenlightened and racist portrayal of native peoples." just before 7:00 p.m. tonight, senator brown's spokesperson has released this statement, "senator brown has spoken to his entire staff and issued them their one and only warning that this type of conduct will not be tolerated. he regrets that members of his staff did not live up to the high standards of the people of massachusetts expect and deserve." my friends, may i point out, this is not exactly an apology. in fact, the state democratic party is circulating a new video

which shows the raist chanting could be a normal part of the brown campaign. >> when professor warren makes a mistake, claiming that she's a native american, you know, she could have very easily just said, you know what, i'm sorry, i made a mistake, it's something my family told me. >> here are the facts. scott brown is the republican sweetheart in the most expensive senate race in the country. he's a sitting united states senator. and he is attacking his opponent on her ethnic background. the date, 2012. can you believe it? let's turn to boston city council member, eyanna pressley. great to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time. how damaging is this to senator brown's campaign? >> it needs to be very damaging. this, actually, i don't consider this to be race baiting, there's nothing coy, codified or couched about this. it's just outright racist. but it is consistent with scott

brown. he has been running scared. this is a tactic. elizabeth warren has consistently campaigned on the facts and scott brown has consistently, personally attacked. and now his staff, and it's important to underscore that, these are not just overzealous supporters. these are people who taxpayers pay their salary, who are on his payroll, who are supposed to be advising him on policy, advocating for constituents. all eyes are on massachusetts with this senate race, and this is a very sad commentary. we know that scott -- >> what do you make of senator brown's statement to his staff? do you consider that an apology? does it go far enough? and what about the reaction of the cherokee chief? >> the reaction from the chief is appropriate, and certainly, not surprising. scott brown has not gone far enough. you know, if affiliation and association were irrelevant, scott brown wouldn't continue to

distance himself from mitt romney. i am a former -- before i was elected to office, i was an aide to a united states senator. and it is fair to say that your staff is not only a reflection of you, but a reflection on you. >> when he said, in the debate, that you could look at elizabeth warren and tell that she was not native american, i mean, i about fell over when i saw that. i mean, that plays right into the arizona "show me your papers" law, the big controversy we've had about that. what was your response to that? >> well, my response right now is that i don't have to be -- i am a black woman, but i'm not only offended by these remarks, as a black woman, i don't have to be native american to be offended. i'm offended as an american. scott brown isn't just a candidate. he is a sitting united states senator, and i want someone in that seat who subscribes to plurbis enum. out of many, we are one. this is a consistent tactic. i think east demonstrated in his

voting record that he has sided with big oil and billionaires and now i fear he's exposed that he'll side with bigots as well. >> ayanna pressley, city council woman in boston, great to have you with us tonight, thanks so much. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show," stay with us. on friday i looked at the real polling numbers by an organization that i can't name, but i trust it. >> the romney campaign joins the growing number of republican poll truthers. >> and in every single one of them, they have a democratic voter participation that is higher than the participation in the electorate in 2008. >> up next, we will explain why their alternate reality is a fantasy land. and all of a sudden arizona is back in play for senate democrats.

the republican lead in deep red arizona is shrinking. democratic candidate richard carmona joins me tonight for an exclusive interview. .

today we'll talk about the real poll numbers. the media is slating this myth that romney is in serious trouble. well, on friday i looked at the real poll numbers by an organization that i can't name, but i trust it. >> welcome back to "the ed show." that was dick morris, that's right, talking about his super secret polling source more than a month ago. and it seems republicans are now working harder than ever to create their own reality. the conspiracy theories are reached fox news. >> well, if you look at the mainstream media, the big headline is, according to their polling, mitt romney is, what, five, six, seven, eight points behind barack obama right now.

is that the same kind of polling you guys are finding with your internal? >> hold it right there. he's complaining about all those mainstream media polls? but fox news' most recent poll had president obama up by five points over mitt romney. here's ed gillespie of the romney campaign answering his question. >> it is not consistent with our polling, stephen. i'm struck by a couple of things. number one, there are three swing state polls out today, and in every single one of them, they have a democratic voter participation that is higher than the participation in the electorate in 2008. >> gillespie is complaining about something a lot of republicans have been complaining about as of late. they say democrats are being oversampled in all of these polls. by the way, the same fox news poll showed 42% identifying as democrats and 36 identifying as republicans. these republican talking point has gotten new life because of a website claiming to fix all these inaccurate polls that are out there.

it changes every national poll to fit the party breakdown used by scot rasmussen of rasmussen reports. but scott rasmussen said, "you cannot compare partisan weighting from one polling firm to another. different firms ask about partisan affiliation in different ways." so even the republican pollster from the right debunks the idea that all these national polls should be retooled to fit his methods. let's bring in democratic strategist chris kofinis now. i think we've seen it all now. this is a heck of a sale job going on. the right wing is going full tilt on this, claiming all of these polls are oversampling democrats. have at it. >> even, for example, if you see the argument that occasionally you're going to have polls that are off, because that's the nature of polling, you're never going to have consistency across every poll. and if you say, you're right, there are some meth logical differences into models that different polls use to determine likely voters, tell me the poll where governor romney's ahead.

i mean, show me the poll where he's ahead in florida, show me the poll where he's ahead in ohio. he's behind in almost every single battleground state, except potentially north carolina, and there are polls showing him behind there. part of the problem here is that you can scream about public polling and how inaccurate it is. the reality is, no one believes, not even i think governor romney's campaign, believes they're ahead in any of these critical states. >> here's reaugh and steve duschi on the conspiracy theory. >> they're hoping you stay home and don't vote. >> they're going to show president obama way up in the polls just to tamp down enthusiasm so republicans go, why even bother voting. >> it's the liberal media. does the obama campaign need to even respond to this garbage? >> i don't think they need to respond, but as democrats, i

think we need to be very careful about being overconfident. this race is not like 2008, and that's something that still gives me a little bit of pause and concern. 2008, you knew it was over by mid-september, as soon as the financial crisis happened. it was basically destiny. you knew the president, you knew that then senator obama was going to win. this one, i would say, the president is clearly in a strong position, but there are still potential twists here with the debate being one of them, if governor romney has a good debate, he can change it, but the problem here is he's running a bad campaign. he's a bad candidate with bad policies, and how do you turn that around in one debate? i'm not sure it's possible. >> well, chris, he's got all these internal numbers now that he's banking on. they've got to be feeling good about their internal numbers. every campaign has internal numbers, you know how it is. how does he turn it around? we've played a big segment tonight on ohio. i think he had that mr. rowe on there with the hat on and the working man look to try to appease the problem when it came to the 47%.

how does he turn this around? and where does he turn it around? where does he really have to focus? >> here's what i think is interesting about this election. it started off, you know, as most elections do for incumbents, as a referendum. but then it became clearly a choice. now it's become a referendum again, but not on president obama. it's become a referendum on governor romney and his policies and his statements and his vision, and his just, i think, basic outlook for the country, for hard-working families. i'm not sure how he changes that. he's got to go into that debate. because it really is the one defining moment that's left for him. he's got to go into that debate and show an empathetic side that we have not seen. he's got to show vision and substance that we have not seen, and he's got to rock the president. and i don't believe any of those things can happen in one debate. and if he doesn't, the stink of death is going to materialize around this campaign. at that time, they're going to say, listen, he didn't win that debate. this is more or less over. >> all right. chris kofinis, great to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time on "the ed show."

coming up, now that the deadline has passed for todd akin to withdraw from his senate race in missouri, look at this, some republicans are making peace and getting behind his campaign. will the rnc follow suit? stay tuned.

coming up, the gop starts circling the wagons around todd akin. we'll show you who is coming up in support of the missouri senate candidate, next. and in the big finish, arizona senate candidate richard carmona joins me to discuss his race for senate and the president's chances in the state this november. you can always listen to my radio show, i ask you to do that on sirius xm channel 127 monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. and also on progressive talk stations around the country. follow me on twitter @edshow and like "the ed show" on facebook. we're coming right back on "the ed show."

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welcome back to "the ed show." not to say that i told you so, but i knew i was going to be doing this story before too long. since making national headlines with his legitimate rape comment, congressman todd akin has been walking a lonely road in the missouri senate race against claire mccaskill, the incumbent. top national republicans, what do they do? well, they urged him to step down. republican groups pulled funds from his race. last week, the chair of the rnc said akin won't receive any support from the party. but he continues to win the support of some big-name republican rebels, i guess you could say. earlier this week, it was former house speaker newt gingrich. today, former presidential candidate rick santorum in south carolina, and senator jim demint got together endorsing akin in a joint statement. and now that the deadline for akin to withdraw from the race has passed, it's looking like republicans may have no choice but to fall in line behind his campaign in a last-ditch effort to oust claire mccaskill and

maybe grab the senate, which for some means they're just going to have to do a flat-out 180. senator roy blunt was one of the many politicians who publicly urged akin to get out of here. >> you know, i think it's a distraction and "the wall street journal" again this morning said todd needs to get out of this race, because the things he's for are actually being held back by all the focus on him and some comments he's made. >> but late tuesday night, just after the 5:00 p.m. deadline, blunt issued a statement announcing his support for the congressman. "congressman akin and i don't agree on everything, but he and i agree the senate majority must change. from governor romney to the county courthouse, i'll be working for the republican ticket in missouri and that includes todd akin." doggone it. and blunt isn't the only one changing its tune. the senatorial campaign has released a statement saying, we're going to support the guy. which begs the question, will

the republican national committee, that's you, reince priebus, right, would you follow suit and embrace todd akin? come on. and how long is it going to be before mitt romney flip-flops on this one? >> i can't defend what he said. i can't defend him. >> until when? tonight in our survey, i asked you, who will win ohio? 98% of you say president obama, 2% of you say mitt romney. coming up, new polling shows president obama gaining on mitt romney in the red state of arizona. plus, outgoing senator jon kyl's senate seat could be turning blue. we're going to be talking to democratic senate candidate trying to win his seat, next. stay with us.

and in the big finish tonight, the red state of arizona could be changing colors. new polling from purple strategies shows mitt romney with only a three-point lead over president obama. back in 2008, the obama campaign thought they had a shot at arizona if senator john mccain had not been on the top of the ticket. there is also a open senate seat in the state of arizona that is now in play. outgoing republican senator jon kyl's seat could be turning from red to blue. the republican candidate for senate is congressman jeff flake. he leads democrat challenger richard carmona by only one

point in a carmona campaign internal poll. now, congressman flake is a typical republican in speaker boehner's failing house of representatives. he wants to repeal obama care, the affordable care act, he's against same-sex marriage, he's against a woman's light to choose, and the icing on the cake, he voted for paul ryan's, what some people call, immoral budget that completely guts medicaid and dismantles the social safety net in america. his opponent, former george w. bush surgeon general, richard carmona, is taking the opposite approach. >> it's reprehensible to think that the contract that we have with our seniors through medicare or social security is going to be cut. that doesn't make any sense. these are not entitlements. these are, in fact, investments. so i think that's the wrong thing to do. >> meanwhile, flake is trying to tie carmona to president obama.

>> richard carmona was recruited by barack obama. jeff flake is supported by jon kyl and john mccain. carmona is for obama's health care law. flake's against obama's health care law. >> joining me now is dr. richard carmona, democratic candidate for senate in arizona and the former surgeon general of the united states. doctor, nice to meet you. great to have you here on "the ed show" tonight. i'll go right to it. health care is in your wheelhouse. you are the expert. he's going after you, your opponent's going after you on obama care. but you have been critical of health care in general on both sides. where do you stand on all of this? >> well, as surgeon general, ed, i was very career, and i still feel the same way, as a physician, as a professor, when i responsibility for the nation's health. it was a real problem that our nation didn't have a system that provided access to health care for all, and we need a robust business plan to be able to support that. so that's where i stand and i'll

never waiver from the fact that i believe that every american should have access to a basic set of health care benefits. >> well, you've got a lot of senior citizens in the state of arizona. how do you play with them and is this going to be your ticket? >> well, i don't have any specific ticket. i mean, i fall back on a laf long history of service. having been a policeman, having been a soldier, having been a combat soldier, u.s. army special forces, having been a surgeon general of the united states, a professor at a university. so all of these things are really things that i have worked with all my life and i've had the privilege to serve. >> senate seats don't open up too often in the state of arizona. in fact, there's only been ten senators in arizona's 100-year history. why do you think you have a shot at this one? >> i think i have a good shot. in the last ten months as i've been running for the u.s. senate, i've traveled the state and spoken to average persons, to native americans on the reservation, to business people, to bankers. most of the people i speak to are very unhappy with the lack of leadership that jeff flake has shown in his position as a

congressman. businessmen tell me time and time again that he's against everything and for nothing. he's not willing to compromise. he takes extreme positions. so i think they're desperate for real leadership. and i can provide that leadership for them. >> and there's a third party libertarian candidate. is this going to help you? >> i don't know. i haven't really thought about it. i've heard about this person. but the fact is that working real hard, staying positive on my messages, showing the public the differences between congressman flake and i, and we're tied, and no one ever expected that to happen. i'm very pleased with the team i put together that's taught me to be a good candidate. >> and we know in the past year, the state of arizona has been the hotbed of conversation and legislation when it comes to immigration. the show me your papers law, all of the controversy that surrounded all of that. immigration reform, hot in your state. how do you differ from congressman flake on this issue? >> well, i can tell you how i feel about it very simply. the problem is congressman flake has changed multiple times, especially after he decided to

become a senator. you know, he ran a very tough primary and you have to move far to the right and now he's trying to show people he's a moderate, which he really isn't. i've been steadfast in my beliefs as the surgeon general of the united states and after. i thought there was a great plan in not disadvantaging the children and allowing us to have a dream act. i still believe that's the path forward. it's the most reasonable way to settle this divisive battle that brings no value to the american public. >> i want to get back to health care. that's your strength and you're the expert on it. do you believe in universal health care? do you believe every american should have it? >> as i said in the opening remarks, i believe every american should have access to a basic set of health care benefits. i am okay with the marketplace, i'm okay with competition. in fact, if you look at almost every plan in the last few years and what we do in our states now, what we call accountable care organizations. let's measure what we do. let's make everybody more accountable. let's get quality care at the

least cost, but let's make sure every citizen has access to the best care at the least cost. >> all right. richard carmona, great to have you with us tonight. all the best. thanks so much. >> thank you, ed. >> that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. "the rachel maddow show" starts right now. >> good evening, ed. thank you. and thanks to you at home staying with us for the next hour. we have nancy pelosi tonight here live for the interview. very excited about that. if this was the image of the week, across the country, for last week, the surreptitiously filmed mitt romney addressing wealthy republican donors in florida and telling them how no good and horrible half the country was, if that was the image of the week last week, then this would surely have to qualify as the image of the week this week. touchdown? no touchdown? touchdown? oh, no! right? the big nfl referee's scandal thing. the green bay packers getting totally robbed of a win on monday night football. that image from this week has crossed over now from being just a sports story to beg